Other Statues of Liberty
Labels :
Barholdi,
Ile des Cygnes,
Jardin du Luxembourg,
Luxembourg Gardens,
Paris 17,
Pont d'Alma,
Rue de Chazelles,
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (full name actually Liberty Enlightening the World) that we all know was a gift by France in 1886 to commemorate the centennial of the United States. Frédéric Bartholdi sculpted and Gustave Eiffel engineered the internal structure.
There are different opinions on who may have served as a model, but it could be the widowed Isabella Eugenie Boyer, wife of the sewing-machine industrial Isaac Singer.
Before making the big version, a smaller one was made already in 1870. It was offered by the sculptor and can now be found in the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxemburg Garden).
You may not know that the sculptor initially had the idea that a giant version of his statue should be used as a lighthouse at the entrance of the Suez Canal, then under construction.
The statue was constructed in the 17th arrondissement, 25 rue de Chazelles, not far from where I live. The workshop is gone and replaced by a modern apartment building. On this slide you can see that at least the building on the left side still is there.
The statue was completed in Paris, but was put into pieces before the transport and reassembled. It seems that the stones on which the statue is standing on Liberty Island also were coming from France.
A smaller, but still big, copy of the statue (the photo on the top) can be found at the end of Ile de Cygnes (Swan Island) in the Seine River, slightly downstream of the Eiffel Tower. The lady looks in the direction of New York. This is a gift by the community of Americans in Paris (1889).
A full size copy of the torch can be found at the Pont (Bridge) d’Alma. As Lady Diana died accidentally in the tunnel just under the torch, it has also become her unofficial souvenir place. The reason for the great number of people around the torch, flowers etc. is of course the 10th anniversary of her death (August 31st).
There are different opinions on who may have served as a model, but it could be the widowed Isabella Eugenie Boyer, wife of the sewing-machine industrial Isaac Singer.
Before making the big version, a smaller one was made already in 1870. It was offered by the sculptor and can now be found in the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxemburg Garden).
You may not know that the sculptor initially had the idea that a giant version of his statue should be used as a lighthouse at the entrance of the Suez Canal, then under construction.The statue was constructed in the 17th arrondissement, 25 rue de Chazelles, not far from where I live. The workshop is gone and replaced by a modern apartment building. On this slide you can see that at least the building on the left side still is there.
The statue was completed in Paris, but was put into pieces before the transport and reassembled. It seems that the stones on which the statue is standing on Liberty Island also were coming from France.A smaller, but still big, copy of the statue (the photo on the top) can be found at the end of Ile de Cygnes (Swan Island) in the Seine River, slightly downstream of the Eiffel Tower. The lady looks in the direction of New York. This is a gift by the community of Americans in Paris (1889).
A full size copy of the torch can be found at the Pont (Bridge) d’Alma. As Lady Diana died accidentally in the tunnel just under the torch, it has also become her unofficial souvenir place. The reason for the great number of people around the torch, flowers etc. is of course the 10th anniversary of her death (August 31st).
29 comments:
Oh Peter.... finally you show some of the places in Paris I have actually visited! My sons and I walked all the way to the Statue of Liberty (small version) on the Ile de Cygnes on a hot September day, and we also visited the torch at the Pont d'Alma. Many floral tributes to Diana, and lots of graffiti on the parapet of the bridge. My favourite piece of graffiti was "F**k Angleterre".
So, why do Yanks hate the French so much?
wow ... living in an area of historical events is so so so cool.
Je connaissais l'histoire de la statue de la liberté, car je l'ai apprise aussi en la visitant à New York, par contre je ne savais pas qu'il y en avait une au jardin du Luxembourg, ni où elle avait été construite dans Paris. Formidable d'avoir retrouvé l'endroit et de pouvoir comparer les 2 photos.
Mais je pense qu'il y en a d'autres ailleurs en France, je vais chercher.
la statue de la liberté, on la trouve partout, un moment je faisais des photos de tous les restaurants/bars avec la statue comme enseigne, avant d'arreter, j'en avais trouve des centaines en France.
J'ai decouvert ce site sur Paris, qui devrait te plaire Paris Avant Une photo par jour : avec la version il y a 100 ans et la version maintenant, vraiment superbe
Il y a aussi une statue à Barentin, à l'ouest de Rouen. C'était sur la route de Paris au Havre où la statue a été embarquée/chargée pour traverser l'Océan Atlantique (voir le film de Gérard Oury,le Cerveau avec Belmondo, Bourvil, David Niven...)
I'm so glad you commented on the Napoleon "error".....it needed correction, but I noted that Ming did not like the style of the hat. ;-)
Yes, I know that there are Liberty Statue copies all over. Already in Paris, there are more of them, but these are the more official ones. The one in the Luxemburg garden from 1870 is somehow the "original", which served as model for "big one" and the one on Ile des Cygnes was placed there already in 1889, only three years later than the NY version.
Ex-Shammickite:
"F**k Angleterre". Somehow the French have not yet quite forgotten what the English did to Joan of Arc in 1423! But it's more a joke than reality today!
Drama Div@:
There are ups and downs I understand. The Iraq war start up was bad for the US/France relations, but obviously those feelings have since developed and our president now even takes his holidays in US. Maybe some US comments on this to follow?
lyliane:
There is a special site for copies of the statue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicas_of_the_Statue_of_Liberty
There are hundreds, if not thousands of them around, not mentioning the million of "souvenir" statues.
Olivier:
Thanks. I have the site among my "favourites", but I prefer not to steal too much from there. I make it a "sport" to discover as much as possible by myself.
Oh Peter,
This is such a lovely post giving so much detail. Thanks a million.
I have seen the actual Statue of Liberty in NY so can relate to it very well.
I think I must go to Paris once again to see all the places shown by you.
Thanks again. Enlightened. :)
Au centre de la Bretagne, il y a un petit patelin dont de nombreux habitants ont émigré aux Etats-Unis entre 1930 et 1960. Et une statue de la Liberté trône également sur la place du village!
Very informative post and one I tended to like the most of those you have recently done lately. I did not know about Diana and the Torch.
I know them!!
It´s a nice statue, one symbol, a nice symbol of liberty.
I don´t like read things like F**ck england or USA, in my case, i like so much british and american people, french people as well, but we can´t hate to all population for the foreign politics.
Sorry my bad english :(
Interesting history, thanks for this post.
Hier on aurait pu se rencontrer si tu étaisà la flamme de l'Alma car nous avons terminé notre journée par la tour eiffel, le musée quai branly le trocadéro et une petite halte chez francis près du métro Alma !
Il est difficile de photographier la statue du luxembourg à cause des arbres et de l'exposition
Very nice, Peter. I also posted another one in Paris last yera, a little one on a houseboat on the Seine:
http://paris-deconstructed.blogspot.com/2006/11/liberty-enlightening-world-la-libert.html
Wow, I didn't know Lady D died under the torch statue.
I will definitely make a mental note to visit it the next time I go to Paris.
cuckoo - and others:
If you plan to visit Paris, I would bery pleased if you contacted me. Would so much like to meet some other bloggers!
matritensis:
Yes the "f**ks" between people of different nationalities are not nice. Fortunately they are often not seriously meant, just a way of expression. If it's serious, it's really bad!
cergie:
Too bad we did not meet (again)!
ruth:
Thanks, but I can't manage to open on this address! ??
My pink vs blue (educational ;-))post of today pales in comparison to yours!
So, ISABELLA was the model? And Jardin du Luxembourg's statue was the prototype?
And I am blown away by the workshop photo!
Super post, Peter!
PS Your reward for winning the alligator guiz is spelled out right on the post:
"The one who comes the closest to the actual size, will get to pet Gator ;-)"
So, once again, congratulations and may God have mercy on your soul ;-)
Je ne savais pas qu'il y a autant de statues de liberté. Celle sur la Seine, j'ai dû l'avoir vue.
I knew there was a smaller version in the Seine, which we saw by bateau mouche, but I did not know there was one at le Jardin du Luxembourg. If I ever make it back to France I will need at least a month, just to visit some of the beautiful areas of the city you have shown us.
Merci pour le site des statues de la libert� que j'ai consult� avec curiosit�. Je me suis souvenue de celles de Las V�gas et d'Epcot, mais celles de France je ne les connais pas, pourtant St Cyr n'�tait pas loin de Bormes et Barentin pas loin du Plessis, si j'avais du temps, je ferai comme HPY pour les ch�teaux d'eau, j'irai les photographier.
lyliane:
Comme dit plus haut, tu devrais verifier le site spécial des copies; comme ça tu es sure de ne rien rater.
Je vais le mettre dans mes favoris, si un jour je peux, et si dieu le veut, j'irai les visiter sans en louper une. Bon week end et grosses bises à Matias.
I need to take issue with damadiva's comment. Yanks really do not hate France. Do not confuse political posturing with the attitudes of American citizens. I can't think of one person that I know or whom I have met that holds that sentiment. Instead I think most Americans have a great appreciation for all things French. Fascination also. Sadly, our political scene often poses problems (this is true for many, many countries), but I repeat, the average person often holds quite diverse views than their government.
kate:
Fortunately I'm convinced that you are right! But, there are moments when some boycotting movements etc. take place. That's unfortunate as at the end I'm sure that we are all prepared to love each other, even more when we get to learn each other better (e.g. by blogging)!
full of memories indeed...
La statue à Bordeaux, place Picard
http://www.cparama.com/forum/download/file.php?id=79
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